Edward l



. (No Model.)

- E. TAFT.

KNIT RATTAN FABRIC.

No. 472,320. Patented Apr. 5, 1892.

wuamtoz kw. 03/0 n m/ef/z I v 951 flmm M 4 UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD .L. TAFT, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOHENRY M. RICH, OF SAME PLACE.

KNIT RATTAN FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,320, dated April 5,1892. Application filed November 21, 1889. Serial No. 331,087. (Nospecimens.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. TAFT, a citi- [O rattan knit fabricillustrating my invention.

My invention consists in an improvement in the knit rattan fabric usedto form the seats, backs, or other portions of rattan furniture; and ithas for its object to prevent the splitting or checking of the strand ofrattan in the curved or bent portions of the loops, and also to secure auniform curvature of the bent portion of the loop.

I11 forming the knit fabric to which myin- 2o vention relates the strandof rattan or reed is formed into a series of loops and each series ofloops is interlocked with the next adjacent series of loops, asrepresented,forminga knit fabricsimilai' to one made of yarn, but therattan strand possesses certain characteristics which render themanipulation of the strand in forming a knit fabric extremely difficult.First, the strand is comparatively rigid and also semi-elastic, and whenbent into the form of a loop has a tendency to straighten and assume itsnormal shape; second, the strain upon the fibers of the strand in theprocess of bending frequently causes the strand to split at the bentsection which forms the loop,

and it is for the purpose of remedying these difficulties that I havemade a modification in the construction of the fabric which forms thesubject of my present invention.

In the process of knitting the fabric the strand is bent first in onedirection to form a loop, as at aa, and then in the opposite direction,as at b b, to begin the formation of the next succeeding loop at c 0.Thus the strand assumes a serpentine form'alternately bent in onedirection and in the opposite direction, the side of the strand whichforms the concave side of one of the loops forming the convex side ofthe next bend in the strand, each side of the loop being straight andnearly 5c parallel with the opposite side of the loop, as

at d d.

Were the fibers of the rattan strand capable of compression upon theconcave side of each bent section or of'expansion or stretching upon theconvex side of the bent section the strand would yield itself to thesuccessive bending required to form a knit fabric; but thenon-compressibility and non-expansibility of the fibers render thestrand extremely refractory in forming a knit fabric.

In my improved form of knit fabric I indent the strand of rattan ofwhich the fabric is formed on opposite sides and at equal distances, sothat the indentations will come upon the concave sides of the loops and00- our at each of the bent sections, these indentations beingrepresented at e e. The indentations can be made in any known andconvenient manner prior to or during the formation of the fabric by theprocess of knitting, and I prefer to form them by the use of atoolhaving a series of points or edges by which the outer fibers upon thesides of the strand shall be crimped and thereby shortened withoutsevering the fibers by cutting, as the cut ends of the fibers would soonbecome roughened by use.

In order to secure a uniform curvature of the bent section of the loop,I prefer to increase the depth of indentations from each end toward thecenterof theindented section, the indentations being shallow at thebeginning of the indented section and gradually increasing in depthtoward the center and then decreasing in depth toward the opposite endof the indented section; but this is not essential.

I am aware that it is not new to formaknit rattan fabric; neither do Iclaim such a fabric broadly; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As an article of manufacture, a knit rattan fabric composed of strandsformed into a series of interlocking loops, said strands being 5indented in alternate sections and upon opsite sides, said indentedsections corresponding with the bent portions of said loops,substantially as described.

Dated at Gardner,in the countyof VVorces- I00 ter and State ofMassachusetts, this 12th day of November, 1889.

EDWARD L. TAFT.

Witnesses:

HARLIN P. UPHAM, RALPH W. BLACK.

